Mom’s home remedy blamed in burned baby’s death

A 27-year-old Houston woman is behind bars after her burned baby daughter died of injuries, reports say.

Habibo Ibrahim, 27, allegedly failed to seek medical attention and treated the 11-month-old’s burns with cocoa butter and acetaminophen. The baby girl was injured in the family’s home at the Fulton Street Apartments in March, KHOU-Channel 11 says.

Sara Marie Kinney, of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told KHOU: “She would take the acetaminophen apart and sprinkle the powder into the cocoa butter, is my understanding, and then rub that on the baby’s body.”

By time the mother sought assistance, it was too late, KHOU says. The medical examiner told the TV station that the baby died of toxicity caused by the acetaminophen, and she probably would have survived if the mother had taken her to the doctor in a timely manner.

Ibrahim initially said the baby got hurt after knocking a pan of boiling water off the stove, authorities tell KHOU. But the woman allegedly changed her story after further questioning, saying she found the baby girl’s pajamas on fire when she came downstairs, the station says.

KPRC-Channel 2 reports that Ibrahim was charged with reckless injury to a child and injury to a child by omission. She’s being held on $35,000 bond.